Matthew Henry Commentary Isaiah 45:5-10

"I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me; that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things. Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, Jehovah, have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto a father, What begettest thou? or to a woman, With what travailest thou?" — Isaiah 45:5-10 (ASV)

There is no God besides Jehovah. Nothing is done without Him. He makes peace, which here signifies all good; and He creates evil (not the evil of sin, but the evil of punishment). He is the Author of all that is true, holy, good, or happy; and evil, error, and misery entered the world by His permission, through the willful apostasy of His creatures, but are restrained and overruled for His righteous purpose.

This doctrine is applied for the comfort of those who earnestly longed, yet quietly waited, for the redemption of Israel. The redemption of sinners by the Son of God, and the pouring out of the Spirit to give success to the gospel, are chiefly intended here. We must not expect salvation without righteousness; the Lord has created them together.

Let oppressors not oppose God's designs for His people. Let the poor and oppressed not murmur, as if God dealt unkindly with them. People are merely earthen pots; they are broken potsherds, and are largely made so by mutual contentions. To contend with Him is as senseless as for clay to find fault with the potter.

Let us turn God's promises into prayers, beseeching Him that salvation may abound among us, and let us rest assured that the Judge of all the earth will do right.